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Sexual consent can be conceptualized as a process of accumulating cues that build toward and continue throughout a consensual sexual encounter. How people perceive the cues of others during this process is an important aspect of consent. However, previous research has not investigated the trajectories of people’s consent perceptions throughout such a process. Using a novel staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ ( N  = 1218; 64.4% female) perceptions of fictional targets’ sexual consent at 11 time points. We tested latent growth curve models using multilevel structural equation modeling to examine trajectories in consent perceptions over the course of the vignette. We hypothesized that mean differences and rates of change would be associated with several constructs relevant to sexual consent. We found that initial consent perceptions and trends over the course of the vignette varied by whether the participant was a university student, by an alcohol manipulation in the vignette, by the fictional target’s sex, and by type of sexual behavior. Researchers should examine whether our findings on consent perceptions of a fictional vignette extend to people’s actual sexual encounters, including potential associations between the three primary aspects of sexual consent: perceptions, feelings, and communication.

Perceiving potential indicators of a person’s willingness is an integral component of sexual consent. Preliminary qualitative evidence using vignettes suggested that consent perceptions can change over the course of a sexual scenario. In the present study, we extended previous research by directly comparing momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions using a quantitative study design. Employing a staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ ( n  = 962; 72.0% female) momentary perceptions of fictional characters’ sexual consent and compared them with participants’ retrospective perceptions of the characters’ consent. We hypothesized that participants would demonstrate a hindsight bias in that they would retrospectively indicate they thought the fictional characters were first willing to engage in sexual behavior earlier than when they did momentarily. We found that differences in participants’ momentary versus retrospective perceptions of characters’ sexual consent varied by the type of behavior. As we expected, participants demonstrated a hindsight bias for making out. Contrary to our hypothesis, participants were hesitant to retrospectively report that the characters were willing to engage in the other sexual behaviors (e.g., oral, vaginal, anal sex) at a point earlier than their momentary perceptions. That momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions significantly differ corroborates previous recommendations that sexual consent be conceptualized as an ongoing process.

IntroductionAccording to data from the General Social Survey (GSS), abortion attitudes have remained relatively stable since 1972. Despite this apparent stability, some researchers argue abortion opinions have become increasingly polarized, particularly among certain subgroups. Others argue people’s attitudes toward abortion are complex and nuanced; that is, people may feel conflicted or ambivalent about abortion in certain contexts. To better understand this issue, we examined complexity and polarization in people’s attitudes toward abortion using GSS data from 1972 until 2018 (n = 44,302).MethodsThe GSS includes six items assessing whether it should be possible for “a pregnant woman to obtain a legal abortion” under specific circumstances. Using these items, we created an aggregate complexity measure. Negative binomial, Poisson, and logistic regression models were tested to assess potential changes in complexity and polarization over time among demographic subgroups.ResultsFindings indicate changes in complexity across political party affiliations, religious identity, and age groups. However, any significant differences among these demographic subgroups are lost once polarized scores are removed. That is, changes in complexity are driven largely by more people supporting access to abortion in all or no situations; among those who remain conflicted, there has been little change in complexity.DiscussionThese findings provide a more nuanced assessment of trends in abortion attitudes. Given the saliency of this issue, we recommend researchers consider alternative mechanisms to assess abortion attitudes.Policy ImplicationThese nuanced assessments of abortion attitudes should be considered when determining the congruence between abortion legislation and public opinion.

This study involved the development of two new measures to assess what some young heterosexual-identifying adults report learning about sex from pornography. Inventory items were generated from an extensive literature review and six qualitative focus group sessions with young adults ( N  = 54) aged 18–29 which explored how pornography could be used as a source of sexual information. A total of 135 items pertaining to sexual learning from pornography were produced, reviewed and categorized by a sample of young adults ( n  = 9), and finally reviewed for item and construct relevance by a panel of pornography, sex education and scale development experts ( n  = 6). Inventory items were administered to a sample of young adult university students ( n  = 1306). Two separate exploratory factor analyses were conducted for the female and male datasets. The final factors were reviewed by a panel of young adults  = 8) to identify the theme of each factor. Both the SIPI-F and SIPI-M yielded three factors: (1) How to be a good sexual partner, (2) Body aesthetic, and (3) Sexual exploration. Results show that pornography provides information about a range of sex-related topics. Findings also show that more frequent female pornography users reported learning more about how to be a good sexual partner and body aesthetic than less frequent pornography users. The SIPI-F and SIPI-M can be useful for examining a variety of questions regarding the use of pornography as an informal source of sexual information and its correlates.

Young adults have limited access to comprehensive sex education. As such, they may seek sexuality information through such alternative sources, such as mass media. Previous research suggests that media, including films and television shows, can influence sexual behaviors and attitudes. Because sexual consent communication is important to sexual experiences, the purpose of this study was to assess how sexual consent and refusal communication were depicted in films. We also examined contextual factors that influence consent and refusal communication, such as gender, relationship status, location, and types of sexual behaviors. Four researchers analyzed popular mainstream films (N = 50) from 2013 based on a codebook developed inductively and deductively. The most common consent and refusal communication cues were nonverbal or implicit. The majority of scenes portrayed consent immediately before sexual activity. We also conducted chi-squared analyses to assess differences in consent and refusal communication based on gender and relationship status. There were no gender differences in the portrayal of consent cues; however, characters in established relationships used nonverbal cues more often than those in novel relationships. Mass media can normalize behaviors, and our results suggest that films may further normalize nonverbal or implicit consent cues.

IntroductionEqually Safe at School (ESAS) is a whole-school intervention to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) in secondary school. ESAS comprises self-assessment, student-led action group, two-tier staff training, curriculum enhancement and policy review. Schools set up key activities in Year 1 and embed them in Year 2. GBV, including sexual harassment, is common in secondary schools and disproportionately affects young women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth.Methods and analysisWe will evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, mechanisms of action and implementation of ESAS. We will recruit 36 schools across Scotland. The evaluation comprises three linked studies:Study 1: Pragmatic cluster randomised trial with 1:1 school allocation to either immediate ESAS intervention start (intervention schools) or 12-month delayed intervention start (control schools). Our primary outcome of student experience of sexual harassment will be measured at 12 months post-randomisation. Analysis of primary and secondary outcomes (student and school level) will be conducted on an intention to treat (ITT) basis comparing schools according to their original allocation.Study 2: Mixed-methods evaluation. Study 2A: Longitudinal follow-up will assess primary, secondary and intermediate outcomes at baseline, 12 months and 24 months of follow-up. Study 2B: Systems and realist-informed process evaluation will assess intervention and control school context, fidelity, dose and reach, acceptability and actor response, and how this varies by school and students. We will also assess implementation processes and mechanisms of action (beneficial or harmful), including if and how change is embedded over time, and if and how ESAS helps schools leverage other assets and resources.Study 3: Economic evaluation to assess the within-trial and longer term cost-effectiveness of ESAS.The methods include surveys in three out of six year groups (Years 2, 4 and 6) in all schools (baseline, 12 months and 24 months of follow-up); interviews with staff, students and other stakeholders; activity observations; brief surveys with key actors and analysis of trial documentation.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval by University of Glasgow MVLS Ethics Committee (200220268). Findings will be disseminated via multiple channels to researchers, GBV and education sector stakeholders, study participants and the public.Trial registration number ISRCTN29792495

People communicate their sexual consent using cues that are explicit or implicit and verbal or nonverbal; implicit or nonverbal consent cues are the most common strategies. As a sexual educator, mass media may provide young people with models of sexual consent that are inconsistent with the explicit verbal cues endorsed by some legal and educational advocates. Guided by Social Cognitive Theory, we examined the effects of film rating on how mainstream films model sexual consent communication and on whether they positively reinforce implicit or nonverbal consent cues. We conducted a content analysis of popular films from 2013 (n = 49) using a codebook that was developed with an inductive process and demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability. Films rated PG-13 depicted characters that were younger than those in films rated R. Further, films rated R more frequently modeled sexual behavior without any preceding consent communication cues. All films tended to rely on implicit or nonverbal models of consent communication; however, these cues were more frequently positively reinforced with consensual sexual behaviors in films rated PG-13 than in those rated R. Because young people are primarily exposed to implicit or nonverbal sexual consent cues in films, they may continue to adopt these types of communication—despite efforts from formal sexual educators to encourage explicit verbal consent cues.

Sexual wellbeing is an integral part of a person’s overall sense of wellbeing. It is closely linked to physical, sexual, and mental health. Despite this, sexual wellbeing remains underexplored, including among young people (aged 16–24). This review aims to gain a greater understanding of young people’s experiences of sexual wellbeing. We will include qualitative research on young people’s lived experiences related to sexual wellbeing. We will search PROSPERO, Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and SocINDEX utilising an iterative search approach. If the volume of eligible studies for inclusion is too large to permit in-depth analysis, the team will purposively sample studies to prioritise heterogeneity and richness. The lead author will assess the eligibility of studies, carry out data extraction, and assess the methodological quality of all studies. The wider research team will independently screen papers’ title and abstract, extract data, and conduct methodological quality assessments of a subset of papers. Two reviewers will independently assess inclusion of all papers at full text. We will draw on the QuART tool to assess the methodological quality of included studies. We will utilise a thematic synthesis approach to synthesise the data and produce analytical statements. We will apply GRADE-CERQual to evaluate our confidence in each of the synthesis’ analytical statements. The team will adopt a reflexive approach throughout all stages of the qualitative evidence synthesis (QES). Research will be written up in line with ENTREQ and PRISMA-S standards. The protocol for this QES was prospectively published in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROPERO) database under registration number CRD42022315593.

Sexual consent is one’s voluntary, sober, and conscious willingness to engage in a particular sexual behavior with a particular person within a particular context. Sexual precedent theory posits that people believe that engaging in consensual sex at one point in time implies consent to later sexual encounters with that person. By assuming consent once a sexual precedent is set, people may rely less on communication cues. We sought to provide quantitative support for the claim that sexual precedent influences sexual consent in people’s sexual relationships. To capture variability across sexual experiences, we collected daily sexual behavior data from each participant ( n  = 84) over a period of 30 days. We found a curvilinear relationship between sexual history with a partner and how people perceived consent during sexual activity with that partner ( p  = .003, ∆ R 2  = .089). A piecewise regression revealed that participants were less likely to report consent communication cues as sexual precedent increased until about 575 previous sexual behaviors ( p  = .003, R 2  = .122); after this point, participants were more likely to report consent communication cues as sexual precedent increased ( p  = .028, R 2  = .179). Overall, we provide the first quantitative evidence that consent conceptualization varies both within the person and across relationships regarding sexual precedent. In our discussion, we emphasize that sexual consent is contextual and cannot be assumed even after previous sexual encounters.